Duke’s recruiting board keeps getting louder, and Colton Hiller is the latest name pushing toward the top.
The Blue Devils hosted the 5-star 2028 forward on his official visit this week, and the momentum may already be swinging Duke’s way. Over the weekend, Duke picked up a crystal ball prediction to land Hiller, the 6-foot-6 product from Coatesville, Pa., who is ranked No. 2 overall in the 2028 class by the 247Sports 2028 Composite Rankings.
That’s not exactly a shocking development. Hiller has been on Duke’s radar for a while, and the school getting him on campus fit the way the Blue Devils have been operating in this cycle.
He was also in the building last season when Duke beat then-No. 1 Michigan at Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C.
Hiller’s Duke visit came on the heels of a September official trip to Florida, which stands out because his brother, Maxwell, is a 5-star offensive lineman in the 2027 class and is committed to the Gators for football.
All of this also sits inside a bigger trend Duke coach Jon Scheyer sees coming. At ACC Tipoff last week, Duke Blue Devils On SI’s Matt Giles asked Scheyer about Joaquim Boumtje Boumtje’s recruitment and whether top prospects could start moving up a year to get into college sooner.
"You're going to see this more," Scheyer said. "You're going to see this more.
It's just the way college has changed, the fact that you get a guy like [Joaquim Boumtje Boumtje] for two years to grow with him, to have the continuity. I promise you that's the first of many guys to do it in years to come."
"I promise you that's the first of many guys to do it in years to come."
Scheyer also joked about Cooper Flagg's birth certificate in that response.
There’s already evidence of that shift. Boumtje Boumtje must spend two years in college basketball, UCLA freshman Nikola Kusturica is in the same boat, and Marcus Spears Jr. - who was the No. 1 overall player in the 2027 class before reclassifying into 2026 - is set to play for Texas this fall and will also need at least two years before he can potentially head to the NBA.
For Duke, Hiller’s situation makes him another player worth watching closely. He could become a reclass candidate into the 2027 class, though that would mean two years in college basketball. Scheyer’s comments suggested he believes that kind of move is going to become more common, not less.
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